In other automated multi-level container storage and loading and unloading systems, the containers are stored in individual vertical and horizontal container spaces. Generally there will be several pairs of multi-level banks of such spaces with the space between the banks being served by cranes which can remove a container from any of the spaces in one bank and deliver that container to any of the spaces up, down, or laterally in either bank. Furthermore, in some of these automated container storage systems there are receiving and delivering cranes for delivering containers to and from land vehicles, such as trucks and rail cars. On the pier or water side of the storage facility, there are generally a plurality of pier cranes which deliver loaded and empty containers to and from sea-going vessels, and to or from AGVs (automated guided vehicles), automated, self-powered railcars, or truck-chassis. An important advantage of these systems is that they use much less land than conventional terminal operations. Thus ports can put land to much higher uses than as parking lots for containers. The other systems have not provided a means to have containers moved rapidly from one section of the systems to another, bypassing the slower movement of containers within said systems, nor have they provided for separate but integrated storage of empty containers that can be built and operated for a fraction of the cost of individual storage spaces. Empty containers remain in storage for much longer periods of time than do loaded containers. The lack of these features may explain why none of the other systems have been built.
A typical container ship can generate millions of dollars of revenue on a single transoceanic voyage. As a result, it is important for the ships to be discharged (off-loaded) and loaded in the minimum period of time so that they can be generating the maximum revenue by increasing the number of transoceanic voyages that can be made during a year. Furthermore, whenever a container vessel is laying alongside the pier, it must pay wages for its idle shipboard crew, berthing charges and other overhead expenses. Thus, it is of paramount importance to the ship owner or operator to minimize the loading and unloading time at a port facility. There is a great need for a system that can also significantly reduce the cost of handling containers on the terminal, thus increasing profits for ocean carriers.